UK draws up Iraq 'pull-out plan'

Is the headline for this BBC story. But the BBC miss the real story here. First to the BBC article.

Plans have been drawn up to withdraw thousands of UK and US troops from Iraq by the spring of 2006.

The paper, by Defence Secretary John Reid, suggests the UK's 8,500 troops in Iraq could be cut to 3,000, saving around £500m a year.

The document, leaked to the Mail on Sunday, also sets out US plans to cut its troops from 176,000 to 66,000.

However, Mr Reid said this was only one possibility and troops would stay in Iraq "as long as they were needed".

He said in a statement that "no decision" had been taken over the future deployment of troops.

It's clear from the article and Reid's statements that this is just normal military planning. It's understood that America and Britain will reduce and finally withdraw from Iraq as the Iraqi forces are built up.

Here is the real story the BBC miss.

The document, leaked to the Mail on Sunday, also sets out US plans to cut its troops from 176,000 to 66,000.

The document, called Options for Future UK Force Posture in Iraq, was marked Secret: UK Eyes Only.

So, someone is leaking classified documents to the press at a time when Britain is at war and has just been attacked on her own soil. Why isn't this a story for the BBC? Because they are more intested in trying to embarrass Tony Blair than protecting the country during a time of war.
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